Valve for oil-wells.



PATENTED SEPT. 19, 1905.

H. D. BERNARD. VALVE FOR OIL WELLS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY18, 1905.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

PATBNTED SEPT. 19, 1905.

H.D.B ERNARD. VALVE FOR OIL WELLS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 18, 1905.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WITNESSES:

ATTORNEYS UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HORACE D. BERNARD, OF BEAUMONT, TEXAS.

VALVE FOR OIL-WELLS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 19, 1905.

Application filed May 18, 1905. Serial No. 260,964.

I allv whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HORACE D. BERNARD, a citizen of the .United States,and a resident of Beaumont, in the county of Jefferson and State ofTexas, have invented a new and Im proved Valve for Oil-Wells, of whichthe following is a full, clear, and eXact description.

This invention relates to valves for oilwells; and its object is toprovide a valve which is adapted to form a good joint at the stem of thedrill and which affords means for controlling the flow of the oil duringthe drilling operation and thereafter.

. The invention consists in the construction and combination of parts tobe more fully described hereinafter and definitelyset forth in theclaims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part ofthis specification, in which similar characters of reference indicatecorresponding parts in all the I figures.

Figure 1 is a cross-section through a derrick-floor and showing how myvalve is applied in practice, the valve and its contiguous parts beingshown in elevation and broken away, as will appear. Fig. 2 is a verticalsection through the valve-body and illustrating the manner in which thevalve operates to shut off communication from the well. In this viewcertain parts are broken away, as will a pear. Fig. 3 is a section takensubstantia ly upon the line 3 3 of Fig. 4 and looking upwardly. Fig. 4is a vertical central section taken through the valve, its contiguousparts being represented as broken away. Fig. 5 is a transverse verticalsection taken upon the line 5 5 of Fig. 4, and Fig. 6 is a transversevertical section taken upon the line 6 6 of Fig. 4.

Referring more particularly to the parts, 1 represents the oil tube orcasing, which is sunk in the well in the usual manner, terminating abovein a flange 2, to which myvalve 3 attaches. The body 4 of this valve hasthe general form of a cross connection for piping, being open above andbelow and on each side. It presents a flange or hub 5 below, which isbolted to the flange 2, as indicated, and is formed with hubs 6 at thesides, to which bonnets 7 and 8 are attached, projecting horizontally ineach direction, as indicated. In practice this valve is mounted, asshown in Fig. 1, just beneath the floor of the derrick 9. The drill-stem10 passes vertically upward in the casing 1 and out stem, as indicatedin Fig. 4.

through the upper side of the valve-body, as indicated. The interiorconstruction of the valve is most clearly illustrated in Figs. 4 to 6.

The bonnet 7 is represented in section in Fig. 4. Its lower portion issubstantially rectangular or square in section, and its upper portion isformed into a crown or dome 11, having the outline of a cylinder. At thebottom and on the sides longitudinally-disposed grooves 12 are formed inthe bonnetwall, and in these grooves tongues 13 lie, which are formedupon and project laterally from the main valve 14. The body of thisvalve conforms, substantially as indicated, to the cross-section of thebonnet, and the tongues 13 are formed with longitudinal grooves whichreceive hydraulic packing 15. The inner extremity of the main valve 14is formed with a concave or semicylindrical face 16, as indicated mostclearly in Figs. 2 and 3. The radius of curvature of this face willdepend upon the diameter of the drillstem 10 and will be such as toenable this face of the valve to seat closely against the In this face16 a groove is formed containing a packingstrip 17. p

The left side of the body 4 of the valve, to which the bonnet 7 isattached, has the same general form as the bonnet, so that the bores ofthe bonnet and body substantially coincide. From this arrangement theinteriors of these parts-constitute a continuous guide for the mainvalve 14. The said valve may be advanced or withdrawn by means of athreaded valve-stem 18, which is rotatably mounted in a head or cover 19of the bonnet in a manner which will be described more fullyhereinafter.

As indicated most clearlyin Fig. 3, the bottom 20 of the main valve 14projects forwardly, so as to present a rounded nose 21, in which noseone of the aforesaid packingstrips 17 lies, as indicated. Opposite thisnose 21 the lower portion of the body 1 of the valve is formed with arounded face 22, constituting a seat against which the nose of the valvemay be pressed, as indicated in Fig. 2. This of course can only be doneafter the drill-stem 10 is removed from the interior of the body. Whenthe main valve 14 is used in this manner, it constitutes a gate-valve,affording means for closing completely communication between theinterior of the valvebody and the casing 1.

IIO

chamber 25. or withdrawn by means of a threaded stem The bonnet 8 is ofcylindrical form and provided with a horizontally-transverse web 23,which divides it into an upper chamber 24 and a lower chamber 25. At thebottom of the upper chamber 24 oppositely-disposed grooves 26 are formedin the wall of the bonnet, and these grooves receive tongues 27, whichproject laterally from a valve 28. This valve 28, as indicated in Fig.6, has a cross-section which corresponds to the outline of the bonnet,and its forward extremity normally projects into the interior of thebody 1 and is provided with a concave or semicylindrical face 29,similar to the face 16 described in connection with the valve 14. In itslower portion and preferably opposite to the packing-strip 17 a strip 30is received in the face 29, as indicated. This valve may be advanced orwithdrawn by means of a threaded valve-stem 31, which is rotatablymounted in the bonnet-cover 32.

In the lower side of the bonnet 8 is provided a hub 33, to which anelbow 34 is at tached communicating with an overflowpipe 35. The openingthrough this hub may be closed at will by means of an auxiliarygate-valve 36. The form of this valve is clearly shown in Fig. 6. Itconforms substantially to the cross-section of the valve- This valve maybe advanced 37, which is also rotatably mounted in the cover 32. Therear extremities of the valves 28, 36, and 14 are preferably packed withpacking-strips 38 in double rows, as shown.

The manner of rotatably mounting the valve-stems 18, 31, and 37 in thecovers 19 and 32 will now be described. These stems are provided withreduced necks 39 at the covers, and the covers are recessed, asindicated, so as to receive collars 40, said collars being located atthe reduced necks and affording means for locking the stems againstlongitudinal movement. The collars are retained in place by plates 41,secured to the under sides of the covers, as shown, said plates havingopenings through which the bodies of the stems pass, as indicated. Theupper neck or hub 42 of the body 1 is interiorly threaded, so as toreceive a plug 43, as indicated in Fig. 2. This plug is for the purposeof closing communication from the body 4 to the casing 1 without usingthe main valve 14 for this purpose. In order to do this, the main valvewould be withdrawn, so as to permit the plug 43 to be screwed down intothe interior of the body, and the upper portion of the inlet-neck 44 ofthe body 4 is slightly bored conically, as at 45, so as to form a seatfor the extremity of the plug. In order to make the retaining-groovesfor the packing more eflicient in holding the same, the walls thereofare preferably formed with inwardly-projecting shoulders 46, which gripthe body of the packing, as will be readily understood, so as to preventthe same from being pulled outwardly. The outer faces of these shouldersincline inwardly, enabling the packing to be inserted, while the innerfaces are abrupt, so as to oppose the withdrawal of the packing.

The operation of the valve is now to be described.

Under normal conditions when the drilling operation is progressing thestem 10 will pass downwardly through the body of the valve, as indicatedin Figs. 1 and 4. The valves 14 and 28 will be advanced, so that theirforward faces abut against the sides of the drillingstem and form atight joint thereabout, so as to prevent the upward flow of gas, oil, orsand. As the drilling operation progresses the overflow of oil, sand, orgas is controlled by means of the gate-valve 36, which may opencommunication when desired with the overflow-pipe 35. When thedrilling-stem 10 is removed, the main valve 14 may be advanced, asindicated in Fig. 2, so as to close W the opening from the casing 1 tothe body 4. The entire bonnet 8 may be removed, if desired, after thewell has been brought in and a pipe-line connected directly in theposition which the bonnet occupied. If the well is to be permanentlyclosed or closed for a long eriod, both bonnets' 7 and 8 will be removedand the plug 43 will be screwed down, so as to seat itself in the bodyand cut off communication with the casing. The valve-stems would beoperated by hand-wheels 47 and would project to a point beyond the endof the derrick-floor, enabling these hand-wheels to be convenientlyreached.

With the valves 14 and 28 in the position shown in Fig. 4 theyconstitute a packing for the joint of the stem with the valve, theirforward faces preferably abutting, as indicated in Fig. 4. In this waythe oil or other material coming up the pipe is prevented from passingup through the body, and, further, attention is called to the fact thatwhen the drill-stem 10 has been removed the valve 14 then operates in anew capacity as a simple gate-valve, shutting off communication betweenthe casing and the lower portion of the body.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent 1. In a valve of the class described, in combination,a body through which a drillstem may pass, oppositely-disposed valveshaving concave faces adapted to abut against the sides of said stem, oneof said valves constituting a gate-valve adapted to shut offcommunication at the lower side of said body, the lower portion of saidbody being formed into a seat cooperating therewithv 2. In a valve ofthe class described, in combination, a body adapted to have a drillstempass upwardly therethrough, a main valve having a concave face adaptedto abut the side of said stem, a second valve having a concave faceadapted to abut the side of said stem opposite to said first valve, thelower side of said main valve presenting a substantially fiat faceconstituting a gate, andmeans for advancing said main valve to shut offthe lower portion of said body.

3. In a valve of the class described, in combination, a body throughwhich a drillstem may pass upwardly, a pair of oppositelydisposedpacking-valves cooperating to grasp said stem therebetween, said valvehaving an overflow-outlet, and a third valve controlling said outlet.

4. A valve of the class described, in combination, a body, a pair ofoppositely-disposed packing-valves adapted to grasp the stem passing upthrough said body, abonnet attached to said body and having anoverflow-outlet leading therefrom which may communicate with theinterior of said body, and a third valve controlling said outlet.

5. In a valve of the class described in combination, a body adapted tohave a drillstem pass upwardly therefrom, a bonnet attached to saidbody, a packing-valve mounted in a portion of said bonnet and affordingmeans for packing a portion of said stem, said bonnet having anoverflow-outlet, and a second valve mounted in said bonnet andcontrolling said overflow-outlet.

6. In a valve of the class described, in combination, a body adapted tohave a drillstem pass upwardly therethrough, a bonnet attached at theside of said body and having an upper valve-chamber and a lowervalvechamber, a packing-valve mounted-in said upper chamber and having aconcave for- Ward face adapted to pack a portion of said stem, saidlower valve-chamber having an outlet therefrom, and a second valvemounted in said lower valve-chamber and controlling said outlet.

7. In a valve of the class described, in combination, a body adapted tohave a drillstem pass upwardly therethrough, bonnets attached onopposite sides of said body, a main valve in one of said bonnets andhaving a concave forward face adapted to abut against said stem, apacking-valve opposite said first valve, and mounted on the otherbonnet, said packing-valve having a concave face adapted to abut saidstem, said other bonnet having an overflow-outlet therefrom, and a thirdValve mounted in said bonnet and controlling said outlet.

8. In a valve of the class described, in combination, a body adapted tohave a drillstem ass upwardly therethrough, a bonnet attac ed to saidbody of substantially cylindrical form and having a transversehorizontal' web therein, dividing the interior of said bonnet into anupper valve-chamber and a lower valve-chamber, a packing-valve mountedin said upper valve-chamber and having a concave forward face adapted toengage said drill-stem to pack a portion of the same, said lowervalve-chamber having an overflow-outlet therefrom, and a second valvemounted in said. lower valve-chamber and adapted to close said opening.

,In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing Witnesses.

HORACE D. BERNARD.

Witnesses:

R. O. WELLEs, F. J. DUFF.

